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Friendly Fire |
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The enemy is closing and almost here,
The men are
trapped and filled with fear �
Belly down in the jungle
mire
Trying to avoid the withering fire.
Then,
like a giant stepping, and stepping again,
Supporting
fire comes walking in.
A brief pause, followed by thunder
and pain,
Leaves and branches fall like rain.
A
number transposed or misheard
In the excitement, or a
garbled word
Caused coordinates to be incorrect,
Filling the air with death and regret.
Charlie soon
melts back into the green,
And Dust-offs head for the
bloody scene,
Hurrying forward to offer relief
From
the carnage and rising grief.
The survivors wait and
mentally damn
Another screwed up day in the Nam. |
By
Thurman P. Woodfork
Copyright 2006
Listed
January 27, 2011 |
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Author's Note: Dedicated to C. D., who had a sort of epiphany
About
Author...
Thurman P. Woodfork (Woody) spent his
Air Force career as a radar repairman in places as disparate as
Biloxi, Mississippi; Cut Bank, Montana; Tin City, Alaska; Rosas,
Spain and Tay Ninh, Vietnam. In Vietnam, he was assigned to
Detachment 7 of the 619th Tactical Control Squadron, a Forward Air
Command Post located on Trai Trang Sup. Trang Sup was an Army
Special Forces camp situated about fifty miles northwest of Saigon
in Tay Ninh province, close to the Cambodian border.
After Vietnam, Woody remained in the Air Force for nine more years.
Visit
Thurman P. Woodfork's site for more information
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